Kerala 2005 - of Planning Commission

CHAPTER 6
RECKONING PROMISE: KERALA’S EDUCATIONAL CAPABILITY
89
achieved by school students (Nair, 1999). Another one
carried out by Kerala Shasthra Sahitya Parishad (KSSP) found
that in Thiruvananthapuram district, more than one-third
(35.27 per cent) of the students from class III to VII in 529
schools scored less than 12 marks out of 100 in a simple
test of language and numeracy. In order to reduce repetition
and drop-out, ‘automatic promotion’ has been followed in
Kerala with rather drastic consequences, it would seem.
Further observations can be made on the basis of Table 6.1.
If we follow the sample cohort of 100 students who enrolled in
class I in 1990-91, up to class VII, retention outweighed dropout
for ‘all communities’ as well as SC students. However, a
large number dropped out in classes VIII and IX. In a couple
of years, the drop-out rate further came down, but remained
concentrated at class IX. This shift in the concentration of
drop-outs from lower standards to upper standards has the
effect in terms of rising average years of schooling. If we
look at the mean years of schooling, which is close to nine
years, and ignored this particular pattern of drop-out and the
reason for its concentration in class IX, the real implications
of it on human capital accumulation can be missed. Given
this pattern of drop-out as well as the results of some microlevel
studies on learning achievements, it is argued that the
mean years of schooling is not a good indicator of the real
worth of the educational capability in Kerala.
Additionally, outdated syllabi and poor quality teaching leave
little light for the learner. No wonder, the lacklustre performance
of Kerala students in all-India competitive examinations.
A serious attempt should be made to assess the quality of
education for which indicators and tests exist, for instance
Programme for Integrated Student Assessment (PISA). 3
Variation in the quality – perceived or real – of secondary
education between the ‘private unaided’ schools and others
puts pressure on parents from low-income backgrounds to
send their children to private schools at unreasonable costs.
As already seen, the sharp increase in the enrolment in private
unaided schools, along with a decline in the case of Government
and private-aided schools, is a reflection of the recognition of
this problem. Where quality matters, substitution takes place,
with the private sector viewed as competitive in quality.
Thus, demand for quality gets reflected in demand for private
sector provision, wherever it is available. Such substitution is
strong in the health sector also. 4 That private sector provision
is qualitatively superior is supported by the general economic
logic of quid pro quo, that a price ensures and enforces quality.
These threads of argument are both baseless and dangerous.
Baseless, because conveniently forgotten here is the fact, as we
emphasised in the previous chapter, that there is no free lunch:
behind every public provision, there is a price in the form
of taxes from the public and this price should have ensured
and enforced quality as much as it does in private provision.
Dangerous, because it props up an unwarranted bias for private
sector where there is an explicit provision for exclusion. If
education, as perceived in Kerala, is a major way of levelling
society, then unequal schooling – due to varying educational
quality – operates against this. Hence, reallocation of public
funds to improve quality of basic education in Kerala is essential
for the benefit of children of low-income families.
It is especially in this context that the significance of efficiency
of public expenditure on education arises. As already stated,
teacher costs account for about 85 per cent of total spending
and there is enough scope for expenditure efficiency on this
front. A source of financial drain to the public exchequer
is the maintenance of 'protected' teachers. With the fall in
school enrolment, the number of teachers available exceeded
the actual requirement: In 2003, there were 3,738 teachers 5
identified as ‘protected’; about 83 per cent of them have so
far been re-deployed. A problem here is the redeployment
of protected teachers in private-aided schools, being resisted
both by the teachers on the strength of organisation and by
the management on the strength of the Kerala Education
Act, as it stands now. It should be noted that by the Act,
recruitment of teachers in private-aided schools is solely at
3 This test was developed for the OECD countries and is a test of the knowledge and skills necessary for full participation in
society rather than mastering a curriculum. It is adaptable to most cultural contexts.
4 It may be argued that were there opportunities, substitution would have a substantial role in the power sector also. The
widespread use of stabilisers, inverters and gen-sets across Kerala is a reflection of the quality problem in the supply of power
and might be an indicator of the tendency for such a substitution.
5 Government of Kerala (2004: 271).